


Antithesis

by Mendeia



Series: What Beyond (The Temple Steps Alight) [13]
Category: The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, The Sentinel
Genre: Crossover, Gen, Oneshot, Villain PoV
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-09
Updated: 2015-10-09
Packaged: 2018-04-25 12:37:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4960918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mendeia/pseuds/Mendeia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>SELF and the tribe in Cascade are not the only ones who have been busy building up their resources in the last two years...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Antithesis

**Author's Note:**

> Something a little different for this round. This is officially the end of Arc 3.5. Stay tuned for Arc 4 beginning next week!
> 
> Enjoy!

The man walked into the room with his head up, although he knew his heart was thudding in his chest and he trembled very slightly. The disconcertingly-plain room only added to his anxiety.

_I wish there was an ornate, expensive carpet or something_ , his runaway thoughts babbled a little hysterically. _Then I'd be at least assured that he would hesitate before spilling my blood on it._

"Samuels," Doctor Zin spoke without looking up. "Report."

Samuels stopped a pace before the simple desk, fixing his eyes on the blank space just in front of the keyboard. He knew if his gaze strayed to the monitor, turned mostly away from the room but just peeking into the edge of visibility where it was angled to Doctor Zin's right, he would die before he could ask for forgiveness.

"The new location has been completed," he said, beginning with the good news. "It will be ready for your use whenever you deem it the proper time."

"Ahead of schedule," Doctor Zin said coolly.

Samuels would take it. 'Coolly' meant he might live to see another day. "However, an aberration has been uncovered within the operation."

"What is it?" Doctor Zin actually stopped typing and looked at the man.

"Miss Yi has been attempting to access files outside her assignment, including those we have hijacked from external sources."

Doctor Zin frowned dangerously. "And the result of her spying?"

"It…appears that she has…exposed a portion of our network to local authorities."

"That _foolish cow_!" Doctor Zin slammed a fist on his desk. "Anaya! Melana!"

A door to one side opened and the two daughters of Doctor Zin entered. Samuels had never troubled himself to tell them apart – they were identically lethal. In a flowing symmetry, they took up positions at their father's sides, their cold eyes turned on the man who had displeased him.

"What is your will, father?" one of the twins asked.

"Miss Yi has betrayed us," he answered. "She must be dealt with, and quickly, before she becomes a liability. I want you to handle it personally."

"Yes, father," they said together.

Samuels suppressed a shudder. _If I can get out of this room without a death sentence, I will never, ever betray or fail Doctor Zin – I swear it. Anything to keep those wolves from hunting me down as they will Yi. There's nowhere on earth safe from them_.

The other twin looked appraisingly at Samuels. "Do you need us to eliminate this vermin as well?"

Doctor Zin peered at the man before shaking his head. "No. He will continue to serve me well for now."

Samuels would have gone to his knees if it would have helped. It wouldn't, so he bowed his head. "Yes, Doctor Zin."

"Go now," Doctor Zin waved at the door. "Continue to ready my stronghold in the West."

Samuels did not hesitate, but turned and walked quickly from the room.

"Father," Anaya said, "will you not punish him for his failure?"

"Why should I?" Zin leaned back. "He discovered a traitor and identified her to me. A traitor whose work has been instrumental in bringing my ultimate goal to the point of reality. He could have ignored or hidden what he had found, and had he done so, my entire plan would be in danger. He failed, yes, but he is loyal and he fears me correctly."

"You are wise, father," Melana said.

"We crush our enemies, my daughters. We cannot crush our own loyal subjects or we will lose our power over them. You must both learn this if you wish to succeed."

"Yes, father," they chorused.

"After you have finished with Yi, I wish for you to make a stop. There is a man whose loyalty must be bought, but I have wealth enough to afford it. And he has a…unique perspective on the game to come. I want him brought to me." Doctor Zin reached into the bottom drawer of his desk and drew out a folder. "Offer him whatever it is that interests him most. We will gladly pay it."

"Should we be hiring common mercenaries, father?" Anaya asked.

"There is nothing common about this man," Doctor Zin shook his head. "And what makes him uncommon will be a blow against my enemies."

-==OOO==-

Anaya was flying the little jet to Hong Kong for their first task when the sharp buzz from the communicator sounded.

"I've got it," Melana said. She hit the switch. "Zinjet in."

"Melana," came Doctor Zin's voice. "Your objective has changed."

She glanced at her sister, hearing the barely-voiced _fury_ in his tones. "How so, father?"

"Miss Yi has been arrested. Before my closest agent could secure her files, however, they suffered an _accident_ ," he almost snarled the word. "The man who arrested Yi is a known associate of Race Bannon."

"We will eliminate Yi before she has the chance to betray us again," Melana said. "Do you wish us to try to recover anything?"

"Yes," Doctor Zin hissed. "If that Boy Scout of Quest's hasn't already seen to it. And do not allow yourselves to be seen."

"Understood, father. Zinjet out." Melana cut the connection. Then she turned to her sister. "Will you be able to handle this assignment?"

"What are you implying, _sister_?" Anaya growled at her with almost the same tone their father had used.

"You have proved to be less than logical when it involves the Quests," Melana said, frowning. "Particularly Hadji."

"You're imagining things," Anaya scoffed.

"No, I am not. In the two years since our last encounter with him and Doctor Sandburg, you have deviated from missions six times. Each of those times corresponded to the potential for involvement by Doctor Quest or his family. Father does not yet know because I have covered for you." Melana's voice went cold. "I will not do it much longer."

"Are you accusing me of having _feelings_ for a _Quest_?" Anaya put the jet on autopilot so she could turn to her sister fully.

"Perhaps," Melana shrugged.

Anaya felt a primal roar crawling up her throat, which she quashed mercilessly. Instead, she hit the button in the cockpit that disabled any and all recording or transmitting devices and wiped their stored memory clean. It was common enough for the twins to receive secret orders and do just that; none would notice it when the plane was examined later. Only when no record of her words would exist did she unlock her jaw.

"First, sister, do not think for one moment that I have forgotten who I am. I am a Zin now and forever. I carry our father's blood and his will. I will never betray that."

Melana looked at her mildly, but nodded. "I believe you," she said truthfully.

"Second, Hadji is nothing to me but a means to an end. As an heir to Doctor Quest, he would be valuable as a hostage or a consort if he were to join us willingly. And as a Guide…" Anaya trailed off.

That point didn't need to be belabored. In the two years since being disabled by Blair Sandburg and Hadji Singh, both sisters had struggled with their burgeoning Sentinel powers, often falling insensible and taking extreme measures to rouse. It was why they were now unable to complete missions alone. They would trust none but one another, so they were forced to work twice as hard, as their father did not let up in his expectations no matter the circumstances. To compensate for their tendency towards weakness, they had developed a system of using different senses at different times so whatever impetus would disable one would not take down the other with her and she would be free to revive her sister. They knew, however, from their surveillance, that the Sentinel called Jim Ellison had no such limitations, nor did Jonny Quest. They had not discussed it, for their father did not see any value in a so-called Guide, but both sisters knew well that their lack of one was the difference.

Melana frowned. "You are lying, Anaya. Even another Sentinel would know."

Anaya cursed and looked away.

"You _do_ have feelings for him." Melana glared. "I should inform our father."

"You wouldn't dare!" Anaya rounded on her sister. "You would bring everything crashing down on us all! Father has always held one rule true – that we Zins are a dynasty and we will not fall to outsiders. You would truly destroy that by bringing me down from within?"

"If you cannot be trusted, perhaps you yourself should visit the Facility." Melana threatened it, but she felt the wash of cold in her stomach at the suggestion.

Anaya blanched as she never would have before anyone else alive or dead. "No."

"Then talk to me!" Melana exploded. "Stop concealing it and together we may be able to find a solution."

Anaya considered her sister. They had been together, united, since birth. They were one in thought and intent and deed. If she could not speak to Melana, she would have no peace.

"Do you remember that Sentinel we killed? The one father sent us to interrogate and determine if she was a candidate for the operation in the Arctic a few years ago?"

"Yes. She had been in Cascade with Jim Ellison and Blair Sandburg," Melana nodded. "We judged her too insane to be of any use for the program, raving and lunatic when she wasn't spontaneously comatose."

"When you went to alter the records to show that she had been mis-prescribed the drug we used, she spoke to me. She was vaguely lucid." Anaya remembered it well. The woman had been chilling in her affect, utterly insane in a way that set her teeth on edge. "She told me that her only true undoing was in killing Blair Sandburg. That he had slid under her skin like an itch and she believed the only way to remove him was by death. But he survived. She spoke of a strange lust for Jim Ellison, but her feelings for Blair Sandburg were much deeper, and much darker."

Melana nodded. "And this is the state of your heart?"

"Sometimes," Anaya said. "It is…like a tic, an obsession that comes and goes like the sensory storms. And it has been so since the first instant his scent entered our outpost in Russia."

"Father does not believe that a Guide is born," Melana said slowly, "but the Quests obviously do. Perhaps there is something in that Guide that calls to you as a Sentinel. Something I do not share, somehow."

Anaya didn't respond to that. For all she and her sister were twins in everything, there was one critical difference between them – Anaya had more of their father's rage, while Melana was more possessed of his calm calculation. Even if they were the same in every other way, Melana might never acknowledge such a strange passion, nor permit it to enter her mind. Anaya was much more driven by those darker desires.

"What should we do?" Melana asked, her face softening as it only ever did for her sister. "Do you want him? If we abducted him, I am sure father would disapprove, and it would bring Quest down upon us, but perhaps you might be willing to accept the consequences?"

"No," Anaya shook her head, a small smile playing upon her lips. "But thank you for the offer. No, my loyalty is with our father and I would not disrupt his plans at this time for no better reason than such foolishness. Besides, I do not wish to face him until I understand this compulsion or until I have some means of binding him to it."

"Very well," Melana said. "Then let us make this agreement. We will continue as we have and I will keep your secret. But you will accept my orders if I believe you have been lost to this obsession. I will not permit you to betray our cause."

"Agreed," Anaya said, honestly grateful. "I would rather you killed me with your own hands than permit me to move against our father."

"As would I," Melana nodded. "But I hope it does not come to that, sister."

They continued the flight in silence.

-==OOO==-

In the relatively small police station that was holding Miss Yi, Anaya and Melana easily incapacitated the few guards they encountered, blacking out the cameras as they went. Without a second thought, they executed the other three prisoners in the holding cell before they faced Yi.

"You are from our master," Miss Yi rose to her feet, crossing the crude cell to the bars. "You must release me, quickly! I have information that he will want to hear, a weakness in our program!"

"You have failed our master," Melana said coldly. "You betrayed him."

"I did it for his own good!" Miss Yi protested. "There are things about Sentinels – things he doesn't know!"

"You have endangered our operation and may have alerted the Quests to our activities," Anaya said. "You know the punishment."

Miss Yi visibly paled. "No…p…please," she pleaded. "I was only…it was to help…"

"Your assistance is no longer required," Melana said. Then she casually fired, shooting the woman through the heart.

The twins did not even bother to watch the body fall. They moved upstairs, easily evading detection or disabling and killing guards as needed. It took only a few moments for the pair of them to break into the police system to see what evidence had been collected.

"There is too much here," Anaya said. "Quest will use this."

"Then we eliminate it, and anyone who has seen it."

-==OOO==-

By the time they left Hong Kong, twenty men and women were dead and the building had suffered a catastrophic electrical system overload. However, there was nothing to be done for Miss Yi's lab. Her computers had been so thoroughly purged, even the pair of them could not retrieve whatever she had encoded. So they simply blew the place up instead, rather than risk Doctor Quest be able to retrieve anything left within it.

When their plane passed over the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Anaya twitched sharply, but she did not deviate from their plans.

They touched down at a Kansas City airfield, two of their father's agents already on-site to meet them. Melana strode across the tarmac, one bag over her shoulder. Anaya was a few steps behind, and, while her sister was busy arranging transportation and the interview to come, she cast her gaze north-westward.

_Another time, Hadji_ , Anaya thought. _But be warned, Guide. When next we meet, I will relieve myself of this burden one way or another. Either you will join us willingly, I will have you unwillingly, or you will die if that is what it takes to cure me of this. I have not yet deiced which I prefer_.

Her mind once again on her assignment, Anaya hoisted her own bag of supplies and followed her sister. They had a bargain to strike, and a few new pieces in their father's plans to set into motion. She would _not_ fail him, not so close to victory over his enemies and over those who would be subjugated to his power. Doctor Zin was father and family and tribe, and like every good Sentinel, Anaya's loyalty was absolute.

She and Melana would serve their father and his goals to bring down the hated Doctor Benton Quest and all those foolish to have allied with him. They would remake the future according to their father's will. And they would protect him and his plans with their lives.

The twin Sentinels embarked on their mission with willing gladness.


End file.
